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MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2002

A group of Hopi, Navajo and other students recently marched to the Department of Interior to protest Peabody Coal's use of water in northern Arizona.

The students, taking part in a Sierra Student Coalition conference held in Washington, D.C., early last month, were at first denied an audience at the department, The Arizona Daily Sun reports. But their presence raised such a ruckus that officials finally returned calls Enei Begay, a Northern Arizona University student, has been making about the issue.

The next day, some department representatives -- but not Secretary Gale Norton -- met with the students to discuss the company's water usage. Under a lease approved by the Interior, Peabody, which has mined Hopi and Navajo lands since the 1960s, takes 4,000-acre-feet of water a year from the only source in the region.

The paper reports that the students were told to keep in touch. "What we're asking from Norton is for her to fulfill her trust responsibilities," Begay told the paper.

Hopi tribal officials and elders have voiced growing concerns about Peabody's practices. Traditional springs in the water-starved region have dried up in recent years.

Get the Story:
Students take water cause to Washington (The Arizona Daily Sun 3/31)
Down to a trickle (The Arizona Daily Sun 3/31)

Relevant Links:
Sierra Student Coalition - http://www.ssc.org
Peabody Energy - http://www.peabodyenergy.com
The Hopi Tribe - http://www.hopi.nsn.us

Related Stories:
Hopi Tribe signs coal plant agreement (3/28)
Bush wants Navajo ruling reversed (3/27)
Hopi Tribe not budging on water (2/1)
Hopi Tribe disputes Peabody water study (8/30)
Court rules Navajo Nation owed money (8/14)
Peabody mining protested (4/3)
Peabody defends water usage (3/26)
Peabody Coal fought Bush's promise (3/26)
Peabody denies Navajo 'conspiracy' (3/20)